Top of the World Lounge at Bay Lake Tower at Contemporary Resort - *2 New Parties Added! “Enchantment at the Top” & New “Bound to Be Bad” Dates Added

[Brett Wyman]

After seeing Direct at Boulder listed at 205 and resale bought at 115, I am thrilled to be riff raff!

We have 57$ per point Hilton Head points we use to regularly stay and the VGF and Poly. So yeah I can handle missing a themed party here and there to save that kind of money.

And the direct users, who in the past few years especially have paid increasingly exorbitant prices per point, they certainly deserve something to differentiate themselves from resale buyers.

 

[xdan0920]

I don't see any bait/switch about it. The only thing guaranteed when we buy into DVC is the ability to book rooms at our home resort. Perks/extras are all just that.

Correct. Which is what makes it bait and switch!

 

[pianomanzano]

Correct. Which is what makes it bait and switch!

I don't think bait and switch is the right way to describe this, unless you bought with the assumption that perks/extras were guaranteed. A bait and switch would be if I bought in and they moved me to say a value resort, since the only guaranteed aspect is my booking of my home resort.

 

[DisneyOutsider]

Perhaps because the lounge was often rather empty, we never had an issue in the past stopping by even if we were not staying DVC.

No arm twisting on our parts, just stopped by the counter downstairs and asked if there was room. We did have enough direct points & the right DVC card (once that changed over).

Also, always would patronize the bar. Kids loved the giant slice of cake & first timers along with us would get the giggles over that shared fish bowl drink. Good times

once the initial rush of members inevitably does drop off again, curious to hear if members not staying DVC are again being waved upstairs.

Yes they were quite lax at times to the point of not even asking let alone checking your resort status.

I'm not getting my hopes up for a return to that lax mode in regards to the new rules. They seem to have a renewed sense of energy on enforcing blue card only perks ever since the new AP debacle where some white cards were getting through.

 

[Sandisw]

Correct. Which is what makes it bait and switch!

When you buy, you sign a document stating what incidental benefits are and the terms of the program. When you buy resale you know you don’t get them.

Its not hidden in fine print at all. They put it out front and center and it’s also why FL timeshare law allows you 10 days to back out It’s to give you time to read through everything so you know exactly what you are buying.

Sorry, but no one can claim they were not made aware of what these are and how it works. There is absolutely no bait and switch involved.

 

[Phatscott25]

Not that I'm trying to promote rule breaking or anything, but I see it mentions that check-in for the lounge is still in lobby as before. I would think that means that any "riff-raff" staying on floor 16 could still get in? For the record I have the DVC-Y so again, not promoting rule breaking.

 

[RapunzelRN]

We have 57$ per point Hilton Head points we use to regularly stay and the VGF and Poly. So yeah I can handle missing a themed party here and there to save that kind of money.

And the direct users, who in the past few years especially have paid increasingly exorbitant prices per point, they certainly deserve something to differentiate themselves from resale buyers.

Agree with this!

I weighed my options when choosing btw direct and resale and ultimately ended up buying 2 resale contracts for the savings pp over direct, knowing I’d not be blue card eligible. I did think about how I would feel if things like this for only blue card members came out and I was not an eligible member (FOMO), but my decision was based on the pp value of staying at my fav deluxe resorts. I can’t be mad at my own calculated decisions bc I knew direct and resale perks would come and go and some not be available to me as resale. Not sure why people get upset they are excluded and think it isn’t fair to separate member eligibility when we knew that was the distinction when buying. You signed the contract! Sign with Disney direct next time! I might if the benefits become tempting enough

 

[Sandisw]

Not that I'm trying to promote rule breaking or anything, but I see it mentions that check-in for the lounge is still in lobby as before. I would think that means that any "riff-raff" staying on floor 16 could still get in? For the record I have the DVC-Y so again, not promoting rule breaking.

Now that it is part of membership extra, it’s possibly they will have updated and changed how those on 16th floor used to get in.

I guess we will see next month.

 

[Unclelude]

Pretty sure the "fee for extras" rumor has legs... Maybe it always had the "and may require a fee" verbiage... can't remember... Maybe confirmational bias...

*Requires eligibility for Membership Extras which is an incidental benefit subject to availability, change or termination and may require a fee.

 

[tjkraz]

How it plays out in coming months. This is all trial to see how much they can get away with. Call it “limited” and people go nuts. It’s insanely overpriced…UNLESS people are willing to pay it, which you clearly are. For $640 for my family of 4, I can pay for a round trip of gas, tolls, hotel on way down and way back, food, and have money left over. I’d rather take another trip than spend 3 hours with appetizers, watered down drinks, and a 15 min firework show.
But hey, it’s obvious I’m not Disney’s target audience someone who would be a DVC member who wants an AP, as Chapek has stated before. That is until the recession and then they need us.

To be clear, *I* am not particularly interested in paying $160 for this event. But some people will. Probably enough to justify its existence.

Ultimately the market will decide how often these private events occur. And it's a market made up of our fellow DVC members. If there's a small subset who is willing to pay $160 per person for occasional private events, so be it. As long as the lounge remains available for free 90% of the time, seems like there's a way to satisfy everyone.

However as time goes on and more and more people start to sell their DVC (for whatever reason, whether it be recession, frustration, or just moving on), the resale people are about to grow in numbers to a point where Disney will need to start to cater to them.

Lack of member perks is often framed as a punishment for resale buyers. It's probably more accurate to view it as a reward / incentive for buying direct. It's the equivalent of free car washes offered by a Chrysler dealer. It's the free delivery + install when you buy a refrigerator from Home Depot.

It's perfectly justifiable to examine the package of direct-buy offers and decide that one is better off buying resale. But we shouldn't really be surprised--or offended--that DVC's primary focus is to incentivize consumers to buy direct from them.

 

[pianomanzano]

Pretty sure the "fee for extras" rumor has legs... Maybe it always had the "and may require a fee" verbiage... can't remember... Maybe confirmational bias...

*Requires eligibility for Membership Extras which is an incidental benefit subject to availability, change or termination and may require a fee.

That part was in there since at least June 2021. https://disneyvacationclub.disney.go.com/media/dvc/en/hidden-pages/MEADS_6-3-2021.pdf

 

[tommcp516]

I just closed on a resale Boardwalk contract for $145 pp, DVC is selling direct DBV at 230 pp. I saved $85 pp which translates to $17,000 for my 200 point contract.

I get that it is disappointing to lose privileges, but not surprising. I don’t think that any of the perks are worth $17,000.

Have you passed ROFR yet?

 

[PrinceRaki]

Pretty sure the "fee for extras" rumor has legs... Maybe it always had the "and may require a fee" verbiage... can't remember... Maybe confirmational bias...

*Requires eligibility for Membership Extras which is an incidental benefit subject to availability, change or termination and may require a fee.

I assume it means paid events like TOTWL reopening. It requires elegibility for Membership Extras but you also have to pay for a ticket

 

[tjkraz]

Pretty sure the "fee for extras" rumor has legs... Maybe it always had the "and may require a fee" verbiage... can't remember... Maybe confirmational bias...

*Requires eligibility for Membership Extras which is an incidental benefit subject to availability, change or termination and may require a fee.

Direct buy perks--like this lounge--will always exist. They've become a primary way of marketing the direct sale to consumers. We aren't moving to a place where the DVC sales pitch will become "buy points from us and you earn the right to spend ANOTHER $100 per year for dining and shopping discounts!"

Any proposed pay-for-play perks level would be another tier on top of bundled perks. And it's not much different than other overlapping programs throughout the Disney regime. Historically, being an annual pass holder doesn't net guests anything-and-everything. There are still added layers / programs which people can accept or decline like Tables in Wonderland, D23, Club 33, Disney Visa, DVC and so on.

 

[TraderStitch]

I can see this being part of the whole tier system as well, except maybe this is how they differentiate it. Blue Card will get the old offerings as no charge, white card will need to pay to have access to the old perks. Introductory might be $100 to wet your appetite but I'm sure after a year or two DVD will see how much money they can make and will increase it. Maybe even offer it for more money if you don't have minimum points (150).

 

[tjkraz]

I just closed on a resale Boardwalk contract for $145 pp, DVC is selling direct DBV at 230 pp. I saved $85 pp which translates to $17,000 for my 200 point contract.

I get that it is disappointing to lose privileges, but not surprising. I don’t think that any of the perks are worth $17,000.

Sounds like you carefully researched all options and made the right decision for you. And that's great! DVC deliberately prices "sold out" resorts high, while the focus is almost always on the newest properties like VGF and Riviera.

If I were trying to sell you as a DVC Guide, my pitch would probably go something like this:

"You can absolutely buy those BoardWalk resale points and enjoy much of what the program has to offer. You'll pay $29,000 for about 20 years ownership at BoardWalk. You won't be able to attend any of the special events, visit the lounges or access discounts on tickets, shopping and dining. You will also be blocked from using your points at Riviera and future resorts."

"The alternative would be to purchase Grand Floridian or Riviera points from me. Your cost will be about $37,000 - 39,000 depending upon resort. But the points will be yours for twice as many years as the BoardWalk. You can sell them as you get older, leave them to your children or simply continue to enjoy the points for another 20-28 YEARS after the BoardWalk points have expired. You will have full access to all of the member perks including Moonlight Magic, the villains lounge, Epcot lounge and other discounts. You will be able to use your points at Riviera and every future resort. We will throw in last year's points as a bonus. And I can easily help you finance, taking up to 10 years to pay it off. Are you ready to sign?"

The heart wants what the heart wants. But I don't think it's really fair to say the perks access would have cost an extra $17,000 without acknowledging that you paid a hefty premium for BWV either way. 20 years of BWV points with no perks and limited resort access for $29k vs 48 years of Riviera with all perks and all resorts for $37k.

Every little point of differentiation can be used to help nudge buyers toward the direct purchase.

 

[The Jackal]

Question - we've never been to the TOTWL - Lair or no Lair - but what kinds of foods did they serve before? Told DH about this re-opening and we're staying at BLT in October and we might need to head there for a dinner!!

There is no kitchen there. Most foods were snack type food made at the Wave and brought up. So it was basically some small snacking food and drinks.

 

[CalOilerGurl]

Honestly, with that open bar, they'd probably lose money on me.

I'll make sure they lose money on me

 

[xdan0920]

I don't think bait and switch is the right way to describe this, unless you bought with the assumption that perks/extras were guaranteed. A bait and switch would be if I bought in and they moved me to say a value resort, since the only guaranteed aspect is my booking of my home resort.

When you buy, you sign a document stating what incidental benefits are and the terms of the program. When you buy resale you know you don’t get them.

Its not hidden in fine print at all. They put it out front and center and it’s also why FL timeshare law allows you 10 days to back out It’s to give you time to read through everything so you know exactly what you are buying.

Sorry, but no one can claim they were not made aware of what these are and how it works. There is absolutely no bait and switch involved.

You guys are looking at it backwards.

The bait and switch works the other way....

"Buy direct from us, THERE ARE PERKS!!!!"

couple years down the line....

"What perks, we didn't say anything about perks. Read the contract. Not guaranteed sucker, I mean, Sir"

 

[karen4546]

Well, the que is open for ticket purchase... I won't be there in July but I hope someone posts a review.

I hope to visit the lounge in September. I enjoyed it the one time I visited in 2019.